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Major · Area, Ethnic & Gender Studies

Study Oceania, Australasia, and the Pacific world

Pacific Area/Pacific Rim Studies examines the history, politics, and cultures of Australasia, the Pacific Ocean's island groups, and coastal bordering regions. Only 5 colleges offer the major, with 11 total annual completions — the footprint is effectively limited to Pacific-region institutions like the University of Guam and Brigham Young Hawaii.

Schools offering
5
Annual completions
11
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$59k

About this major

Pacific Area/Pacific Rim Studies focuses on the history, society, politics, culture, and economics of the peoples of Australasia and the Pacific Ocean, related island groups and bordering coastal regions, including pre- and post-colonial migration patterns. The curriculum engages with indigenous Pacific cultures and languages, the colonial and post-colonial histories of Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Fiji, and the federated Pacific states, contemporary sovereignty and self-determination movements, and the environmental and climate issues that make the region globally consequential. Study typically integrates community-based research and indigenous epistemologies, which makes the institutional setting matter enormously — programs rooted in Pacific communities teach the material in substantially different ways than programs approaching it from the mainland.

The major is one of the rarest in the area-studies family. Only 5 colleges report a program, and total annual completions are 11. The institutional footprint is geographically specific: University of Guam leads with 5 bachelor's completions, Brigham Young Hawaii adds 4, Central Washington University has 1, American Samoa Community College has 1 associate's completion, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa reports the program on paper without recent graduates. Outside the Pacific region, the material is almost exclusively available through concentrations in ethnic studies, Asian Studies, or regional-affairs tracks. Bachelor's completers in the broader 05.01 area-studies family report five-year median earnings around $58,500, though this signal reflects the concentration's wider average rather than a Pacific-specific earnings figure.

The only career directly mapped to this CIP code is area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary, at an $84,290 median wage requiring a doctoral degree. Real-world destinations are typically regionally rooted: government and public service in Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and other Pacific territories and states; tribal and native-Hawaiian community organizations; environmental and climate policy work focused on rising sea levels, ocean policy, and regional resilience; cultural-heritage and tourism institutions; regional journalism; and graduate study in Pacific Islands studies or regional affairs. Career paths tend to serve Pacific communities and jurisdictions rather than transferring easily to mainland corporate or government pipelines.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary $84k +2.4% Doctoral or professional degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$59k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you have direct ties to Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific communities and want an academic program that takes those histories seriously on their own terms, if you're able to enroll at one of the handful of institutions that offer the major — University of Guam, BYU-Hawaii, or a comparable program — and treat that geography as an asset rather than a constraint, if environmental and climate work in the Pacific is a destination you'd pursue, and if a career path rooted in regional government, community, or cultural institutions fits what you want. The small program size means direct access to faculty and community-based research, which can be the strongest feature of the experience.

Think twice if you aren't in the Pacific region or can't travel there for study — the major is effectively unavailable as a standalone in most of the mainland U.S., and coverage through broader ethnic-studies or Asian-studies programs will typically give you less depth. Think twice also if you want a major with portable, mainland-oriented job outcomes; career paths tend to serve Pacific jurisdictions specifically, not the broader national market. And think twice if you're considering the major as a generic "Asia-Pacific" option — the regional focus is deliberately Oceanic and indigenous-grounded, not a substitute for East Asian Studies or Asian Studies/Civilization, where institutional options are far deeper.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Pacific Area/Pacific Rim Studies

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
University of Guam Mangilao, GU 0 5 5
Brigham Young University-Hawaii Laie, HI 0 4 4
Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA 0 1 1
American Samoa Community College Pago Pago, AS 1 0 1
University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI 0 0 0
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

American/United States Studies/Civilization

721 completions/yr

Area Studies, Other

451 completions/yr

Asian Studies/Civilization

433 completions/yr

East Asian Studies

220 completions/yr

Latin American Studies

130 completions/yr

Near and Middle Eastern Studies

97 completions/yr

African Studies

80 completions/yr

French Studies

52 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do Pacific Area/Pacific Rim Studies majors actually study?
Coursework focuses on the history, politics, culture, and economics of Oceania — Pacific Island nations, Australia, New Zealand, and coastal communities around the Pacific Rim. Students engage with indigenous Pacific languages and cultural traditions, colonial and post-colonial history, contemporary sovereignty movements, environmental and climate policy (the region is central to climate-change research), and diaspora communities. Many programs emphasize Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Micronesian, or Maori perspectives and integrate community-based research.
How rare is this major?
Very rare. Only 5 colleges report a program, and total annual completions are 11 nationally. The institutional footprint is almost entirely Pacific: University of Guam (5 completions), Brigham Young University-Hawaii (4), Central Washington University, American Samoa Community College, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. For students outside the Pacific region, this major is effectively unavailable as a standalone; Asian Studies, Pacific Islander Studies concentrations within ethnic studies, or international relations tracks typically substitute.
Is this offered at the associate's level?
Yes, in limited form. American Samoa Community College reports 1 annual associate's completion, while the rest of the programs award bachelor's degrees. The associate's pathway functions as a transfer credential, particularly for students in the American Samoa or Pacific Islands CC-to-four-year pipeline. Most students pursuing this major ultimately complete a bachelor's.
What careers do graduates pursue?
The only career directly mapped to this CIP is area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary — $84,290 median with a doctoral requirement. In practice, graduates often go into regional government and public service in Pacific jurisdictions (federated states, territories, Hawaii), tribal and native-community roles, environmental and climate work (a major regional concern), tourism and cultural-heritage work, journalism, teaching, and graduate programs in Pacific Islands studies or regional policy. Career paths tend to be regionally rooted rather than widely portable across the mainland U.S.
Would I be better off in an Asian Studies or East Asian Studies program?
Depends on your interest. Asian Studies and East Asian Studies focus on the Asian continent — China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia. Pacific Area/Pacific Rim Studies covers Oceania: the Pacific Islands, indigenous Pacific communities, Australia, New Zealand. For students interested in Pacific Islander communities, sovereignty and indigenous-rights issues, or the Pacific as a geographical and cultural region in itself, this major is the direct path — and the very fact that it's rare reflects how specific that interest is. For a broader interest in Asia, other majors offer much more institutional depth.